Several years ago while teaching a high school English class, I learned a valuable life lesson—that we cannot ignore or avoid problems that arise, but must confront and heal them.
I was assigned a student who, by all appearances, from day one, had nothing but disgust for both me and everything I said. I wasn’t used to this. I had always been able to connect with my students and have good relationships with them. But this boy made it obvious that he couldn’t tolerate me. Every time I said something, he would roll his eyes, look away or up to the ceiling, or make some gesture of disgust.
At first I tried just not looking in his direction or making eye contact, but I always felt the presence of the negativity in the room. It was very distracting, and after several weeks of trying to ignore it, I decided I couldn’t take it any longer. I didn’t want to ask that he be removed from my class. I didn’t want to ask that he be disciplined. And I didn’t want to discipline him myself. So I decided that that weekend, when I got home, I was going to pray about my concept of the boy until I could look at him and see the face of God (see Genesis 33:10).
